Rostyslav Svanidze
Personal information
Full nameRostyslav Albertovych Svanidze
National team Ukraine
Born(1971-11-05)5 November 1971
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Died14 October 2002(2002-10-14) (aged 30)[1]
Zaporizhia, Ukraine
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubUkraïna Zaporizhzhia[1]
CoachIvan Proskura[1]

Rostyslav Albertovych Svanidze (Ukrainian: Ростислав Альбертович Сванідзе; November 5, 1971 – October 14, 2002) was a Ukrainian swimmer of Georgian descent, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events.[2] He was a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a top 16 finalist in the 100 m freestyle at his Olympic debut in Atlanta (1996). As a member of Ukraine's senior national team, Svanidze had won a total of 37 swimming titles in middle-distance freestyle (100 and 200 m), and in freestyle relays (400 and 800 m). Although he never received a single medal in any international tournament, Svanidze was regarded as one of Ukraine's top swimmers in the post-independence era since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Before his untimely death in 2002, he worked as a senior lecturer under the faculty of physical education in Zaporizhia State Medical University.

Swimming career

Early years

Svanidze, a native in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, started his sporting career at the age of nine. He later became a pupil and a member of the swimming team for Ukraïna Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine's top sports clubs, under his longtime coach and mentor Ivan Proskura.[1]

In 1995, Svanidze made his worldwide breakthrough at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he placed fifth in a freestyle double (100 and 200 m). He also established a new Ukrainian record of 1:48.73 in the 200 m freestyle.[3]

Svanidze became one of the first ever swimmers to attend Ukraine's historic debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta since the post-Soviet era. In the 100 m freestyle, he powered home with a fourteenth-place effort in the B-Final at 50.43, edging out Canada's Stephen Clarke in a close finish by two-hundredths of a second (0.02).[4][5]

2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Svanidze competed in three swimming events, including two freestyle relays. He posted a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:52.34 (200 m freestyle) from the European Championships in Helsinki, Finland.[6][7] On the first day of the Games, Svanidze teamed up with Vyacheslav Shyrshov, Pavlo Khnykin, and Artem Honcharenko in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Svanidze swam the second leg in heat three and recorded a split of 51.69, but the Ukrainians finished the race in fourth place and twelfth overall with a final time of 3:21.48.[8][9] In the 200 m freestyle, Svanidze placed twenty-fourth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat four, he picked up a second spot by almost a third of a second (0.33) behind winner Arūnas Savickas of Lithuania, in a time of 1:52.35.[10] Two days later, Svanidze, along with Goncharenko, Ihor Snitko, and Serhiy Fesenko, placed fourteenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:32.16.[11][12]

Shortly after his second Olympics, Svanidze announced his retirement from swimming. He worked as a full-time senior lecturer under the faculty of physical education, social pedagogy, and psychology at the Zaporizhia State Medical University in Zaporizhia.[1]

Death

On October 16, 2002, just three weeks before his thirty-first birthday, Svanidze was found unconscious inside the gymnasium at Zaporizhia State Medical University after having suffered a cardiac arrest. He started to become ill while conducting an evening training session for students. He responded to them: "I have a headache; train? probably not; Go to class time, my fellow students". While proceeding to the university's gymnasium, Svanidze felt bad, and eventually collapsed.[13] He was found unconscious by one of his students, before being brought to the University's hospital. Eleven minutes later, he was pronounced dead. Doctors discovered that Svanidze had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, caused by a traumatic aortic rupture, at the time of his death.[14]

Svanidze's untimely death shocked the nation's entire swimming field. Olympic medalist Denys Sylantyev recalled his emotion for a posthumous swimmer: "It feels like Rostislav just left. Somewhere far away. He and I have never competed, but we were very good friends. In matters of sport, I did not consult with him, because it is impossible to swim in different distances. None of us sought advice in real-life situations, but there is no request that he had not fulfilled. If you cannot do something, It is no longer a promise. We spent a lot of time in training camp, and more often, made fun of each other."[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Заслуженный тренер украины по плаванию иван проскура: "за три дня до смерти моего ученика ростика сванидзе девушке, которая тренировалась с ним в одном бассейне, приснился сон, будто он умер" [Honored coach of Ukraine's Swimming Team Ivan Proskura, "Three days before the death of my student Rostislav Svanidze, a girl who trained with him in the same pool had a dream that he died"] (in Ukrainian). Fakty i Kommentarii. 19 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rostyslav Svanidze". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Hawrylyshyn, George (19–20 May 1995). "On the road to Atlanta: Ukraine's swimmers take silver medals in Rio". The Ukrainian Weekly. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Freestyle Final B" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Team Ukraine at XXVI Summer Olympics" (PDF) (30 ed.). The Ukrainian Weekly. 28 July 1996. p. 10. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 4)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "2000 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Helsinki, Finland) – Men's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heat 3" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 336. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Newberry, Paul (16 September 2000). "Thompson anchors U.S. relay win; Thorpe wins 400 free". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 4" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 125. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 341. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Wide-open race in the men's 100 free". Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  13. ↑ В Запорожье прошли похороны известного украинского пловца Ростичлава Сванидзе [In Kiev was the funeral of the famous Ukrainian swimmer Rostyslav Svanidze] (in Russian). Fakty i Kommentarii. 19 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  14. ↑ 31-летний украинский пловец ростислав сванидзе умер от разрыва аорты, а американский боец даглас дейдж погиб прямо на ринге киевского дворца спорта [31-year-old Ukrainian swimmer Rostyslav Svanidze died of aortic rupture, and an American wrestler Douglas Deydzh was killed directly on the ring of the Kiev Palace of Sports] (in Ukrainian). Fakty i Kommentarii. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
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